Saturday Open Thread

By Paul Lukas, on March 17th, 2007

Heads up: That’s Guy Martino of Kennedy High in Cedar Rapids, playing in the Iowa state tourney (with thanks to Jesse Gavin, who also notes that Martino’s teammate Eric Schultz wears tights and that the Bishop Heelan team wears “Pride” on their jerseys, instead of player names).

What’s with the 3rd Padres cap, is that new? I’ve never seen that before.[/quote]

Wait…here’s one. I thought the Reds were ditching the black hats. I even referenced Paul’s write-up of the new unis from December. No black hat.[/quote]

It still exists as some sort of Alternate hat, but they have never modeled them with any of their new uniforms, so I have no idea when they plan on using them.[/quote]

I think it may work like the A’s black hat, where its an official alternative but they dont wear it…

Allison|
March 17, 2007 at 11:18 am |

Paul–Bishop Heelan is a Catholic school in the Sioux City district. I lived in the area until I was 13, and ALL of their sports wear “PRIDE” on the back of their uniforms.

They believe in the “Play for the name on the front of your jersey, not the one on the back” philosophy, and also play for pride. I think their official nickname is the Crusaders, but they’re usually known as the Pride.

MBX1231|
March 17, 2007 at 11:31 am |

Some teams looks good with having different home and road caps; some teams look ridiculous with three hats; however, I like the fact that the Phillies use the “star” cap just for interleague games.

Just to follow up on a comment way back in December about Marc-Andre Fleury’s helmet, I was able to get a picture of the “E.F.G.T” and the fleur de leis on the back. The letters stand for the first initials of his deceased grandparents: Estelle, Francois, Gaston and Therese.

(hopefully this wasn’t covered already)

Dirk|
March 17, 2007 at 11:53 am |

[quote comment=”61001″]Florida is STILL NOT wearing their new uniforms. Whats up with that? Maybe the players don’t like?
Go Hoosiers!![/quote]

I think it’s because the one time they wore them, at Tennessee, they lost. Also when they went back to the usual uni’s, they rolled through the SEC Tournament.

Justin|
March 17, 2007 at 12:08 pm |

The Red Sox announced today that they will wear their green uniforms and hats for their April 12th home game. They will be honoring Red Auerbach and the Celtics apparantly

Frank Mercogliano|
March 17, 2007 at 12:13 pm |

Someone asked if with Miami’s new uniforms if orange on orange has ever been done. Some posted Clemson, and sadly, we at Idaho State wore this get up for four games…

[quote comment=”61025″]The Red Sox announced today that they will wear their green uniforms and hats for their April 12th home game. They will be honoring Red Auerbach and the Celtics apparantly[/quote]

the greens look so good for the Sox. I wouldn’t mind them being used as an alt instead of the kool-aid jerseys.

Brandon|
March 17, 2007 at 12:19 pm |

[quote comment=”61020″]I like the fact that the Phillies use the “star” cap just for interleague games.[/quote]

I also like that touch by the Phillies. The Cardinals only wear their 3rd cap for Sunday home day games. There is no guessing what you’ll see when you show up to the ballpark.

Couple of things:
mlbstyleguide.com does have the show the Padres camoflauge jerseys and caps officially listed as an alternate home uniform… it’s a hideous design but a great gesture and if they limit the dates they wear to Memorial Day and 4th of July games, it’s a terrific idea.

The PRIDE names on the back of the HS unis should be changed to LAME. Silly. Sophmoric. Lame.

Green jerseys to commemorate Red Auerbach’s passing is a terrific gesture and speaks volumes for the classy Red Sox organization.

[quote comment=”61036″]I really like the black A’s hat, but then again, I like black and dark green, so it’s kind of expected.

I’m curious about the home and road Padres caps. Are they identical? One looks a little lighter and fuzzier, but that’s hardly enough to merit two separate caps, right???[/quote]
I think the “SD” on the middle hat is outline in gold while the other one is just white.

Padres wear camoflouge uniforms once a year to honor all the military in San Diego. This year military opening day is 4/7. I’m going to the game, and might buy one of the green caps. It’d be nice if proceeds from sales of all the camoflouge merchandise went to a charity/cause benefitting military families.

Jeffery|
March 17, 2007 at 1:29 pm |

[quote comment=”61018″]Paul–Bishop Heelan is a Catholic school in the Sioux City district. I lived in the area until I was 13, and ALL of their sports wear “PRIDE” on the back of their uniforms.

They believe in the “Play for the name on the front of your jersey, not the one on the back” philosophy, and also play for pride. I think their official nickname is the Crusaders, but they’re usually known as the Pride.[/quote]

I live in Sioux City, IA and coach football for the crosstown rival of the Heelan Crusaders, the East Black Raiders. The “PRIDE” thing goes back as far as I can remember but I don’t recall anyone ever calling the team The Pride. They are most definately known as the Crusaders.

Padres wear camoflouge uniforms once a year to honor all the military in San Diego. This year military opening day is 4/7. I’m going to the game, and might buy one of the green caps. It’d be nice if proceeds from sales of all the camoflouge merchandise went to a charity/cause benefitting military families.[/quote]

It would be fitting if they let their knew pitcher who served in the Marines pitch in the game. But I believe he’ll be in the minor leagues for a few years, but atleast let him throw out the first pitch.

Tim|
March 17, 2007 at 1:33 pm |

[quote comment=”61042″][quote comment=”61036″]I really like the black A’s hat, but then again, I like black and dark green, so it’s kind of expected.

I’m curious about the home and road Padres caps. Are they identical? One looks a little lighter and fuzzier, but that’s hardly enough to merit two separate caps, right???[/quote]
I think the “SD” on the middle hat is outline in gold while the other one is just white.[/quote]

I am watching the Ohio State-Xavier game and can’t help noticing that the RUPP ARENA court logo looks strikingly like the PHILIPS ARENA logo in Atlanta. For most of you who have never seen a Hawks home game on television (for good reason), the Philips logo looks like this. Oh, and the Nike System of Dress unis, like Ohio State’s, make anyone wearing them look like dinner bells.

…and when I say dinner bell, I mean one of this variety, and not this type. I say that now, but there will probably be a day when Nike will decide to outfit our nation’s finest basketball programs with something similar to this.

Matt B|
March 17, 2007 at 2:08 pm |

The current Wisconsin Alumni magazine has an article on UW’s protection of the Motion W mark. I’ll try to track down a link to an electronic version…

The Mets used to have an ‘Irish Night’ promotion at home; I wonder if the players will wear the green caps that they hand out to the fans?

Anybody else notice that Seattle seems to ghave dumped their classic navy-with-aqua-bill home cap and has only the all-navy one now? Liked the discontinued one myself.

Still a good sign that a healthy 9 of 30 teams only use one cap and haven’t gone in for the merchandising-oriented alternates.

Also, in the past I’ve complained about the excessively-low positioning of the numbers and player names on some of the newer jerseys, and now it’s spreading even to big guys like Barry Bonds.Here he actually has to untick his jersey a bit so that his number isn’t stuffed down the back of his pants!

Fredo Corleone|
March 17, 2007 at 4:06 pm |

[quote comment=”61056″]…and when I say dinner bell, I mean one of this variety, and not this type. I say that now, but there will probably be a day when Nike will decide to outfit our nation’s finest basketball programs with something similar to this.[/quote]
I was looking for a dinner bell of this variety…

Cubs are wearing pinstipes – thumbs up.
They and the Padres are also wearing velcro, adjustable St. Pat’s caps – thumbs down! Cubs have the red “C” outlined in white, and the Padres’ have the swinging friar logo over a white shamrock. Judging by the sweat lines on Will Ohman’s cap, they are not made out of the “wicking” material.

Bush league, New Era, bush league.

Ben|
March 17, 2007 at 4:59 pm |

Here are a couple of pictures from the Red Sox St. Patrick’s Day Game: Jonathan Papelbon sports a green jersey and cap and note the green base in the background. And Manny Ramirez was sans snood today.
Also, thought it was interesting the Sox did not update the green jerseys and caps to this years models of spring training garb.

Rich Bruns|
March 17, 2007 at 5:26 pm |

Louisville just lost to A&M and if you ask me, the Cardinals need to ditch the black also. Those jerseys with the randomly placed white patches don’t look so great.

Original Jim|
March 17, 2007 at 5:39 pm |

[quote comment=”61088″]Here are a couple of pictures from the Red Sox St. Patrick’s Day Game: Jonathan Papelbon sports a green jersey and cap and note the green base in the background. And Manny Ramirez was sans snood today.
Also, thought it was interesting the Sox did not update the green jerseys and caps to this years models of spring training garb.[/quote]

The green jerseys were updated. They are alternate jerseys, not batting practice jerseys, and they have the correct Red Sox wordmark (not the fat round one shown in the logo, and on most replica jerseys).

Bob A|
March 17, 2007 at 5:43 pm |

[quote comment=”61090″]Louisville just lost to A&M and if you ask me, the Cardinals need to ditch the black also. Those jerseys with the randomly placed white patches don’t look so great.[/quote]
I agree. These jerseys are really awful.

Bob A|
March 17, 2007 at 5:49 pm |

This picture isn’t the best example but watching Wisconsin yesterday the ‘lowered rear stripage’ made it look like guys were losing their pants. The effect was more pronounced on TV than it is in static photos.

Allison|
March 17, 2007 at 5:55 pm |

[quote comment=”61093″][quote comment=”61090″]Louisville just lost to A&M and if you ask me, the Cardinals need to ditch the black also. Those jerseys with the randomly placed white patches don’t look so great.[/quote]
I agree. These jerseys are really awful.[/quote]

Why do the Red Sox have names on their green jerseys? They’re at [i]home[/i].

Bob from Akron|
March 17, 2007 at 7:02 pm |

Nike World meets Fifth Third Bank!

From the web page: “After working with Deskey, a retail product branding consultancy for 18 months, Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank has released its new identity. Unfortunately, they traded in a readable, recognizable mark for a trendy, often parodied swoosh/horizon/.com logo (see before and after marks above).”

Padres have switched from the camo hats to the solid green with brown “SD” logo hats. A bit of an improvement if you ask me. The camo hats were just embarassing. As far as the teams with more than one hat, I have no problem with them coming up with a road jersey hat – but the 3rd “alternate” jersey just rubs me the wrong way. At this point it just seems to be a blatant marketing scheme for the teams that have no idea how to sell hats.

Oh well, it’s not like MLB ever listens to fan input anyway.

As far as the A’s black hat – the last time I saw it worn was back when Giambi played for them – if that gives you any idea as to when it was last used.

Not sure how many teams impliment this process, but I read a few years ago how the Diamondbacks allow the starting pitcher to select what jersey they will wear that evening. Obviously with the old Diamondbacks plethora of jersey combos (vest, solids, pinstripes, pinstripe vest, etc, etc.) they had a lot to choose from. Does anyone know or have heard of any other team that uses this system?

Big L|
March 17, 2007 at 7:17 pm |

Riding the El today in downtown Chicago for the Parade and found someone wearing this little diddy. Didn’t take a picture at that moment, but add 150 more pounds, a cup of beer and a floppy leprachaun hat and you’ll get the picture.

OHL fans reside in Chicago. NICE JERSEY!

Ryan B.|
March 17, 2007 at 7:33 pm |

[quote comment=”61101″]
…I read a few years ago how the Diamondbacks allow the starting pitcher to select what jersey they will wear that evening…anyone know or have heard of any other team that uses this system?[/quote]

I know the Cubs do this as well.

Billy B.|
March 17, 2007 at 7:48 pm |

[quote comment=”61103″][quote comment=”61101″]
…I read a few years ago how the Diamondbacks allow the starting pitcher to select what jersey they will wear that evening…anyone know or have heard of any other team that uses this system?[/quote]

I know the Cubs do this as well.[/quote]
The Cubs do for sure. Zambrano always wears the blue jerseys. When Maddux was with them he always wore pinstripes or gray.

MikeyB|
March 17, 2007 at 8:00 pm |

[quote comment=”61088″]Here are a couple of pictures from the Red Sox St. Patrick’s Day Game: Jonathan Papelbon sports a green jersey and cap and note the green base in the background. And Manny Ramirez was sans snood today.
Also, thought it was interesting the Sox did not update the green jerseys and caps to this years models of spring training garb.[/quote]

They should wear those more often.

Andy from KC|
March 17, 2007 at 8:35 pm |

[quote comment=”61104″][quote comment=”61103″][quote comment=”61101″]
…I read a few years ago how the Diamondbacks allow the starting pitcher to select what jersey they will wear that evening…anyone know or have heard of any other team that uses this system?[/quote]

I know the Cubs do this as well.[/quote]
The Cubs do for sure. Zambrano always wears the blue jerseys. When Maddux was with them he always wore pinstripes or gray.[/quote]

The Royals, too. Runelvys Hernandez (enjoy him, Red Sox fans!) used to always go with the darker colors, blue or black, to hide his flab. I don’t think I saw Mark Redman deviate from white or gray once.

Andy from KC|
March 17, 2007 at 8:39 pm |

[quote comment=”61087″]Cubs are wearing pinstipes – thumbs up.
They and the Padres are also wearing velcro, adjustable St. Pat’s caps – thumbs down! Cubs have the red “C” outlined in white, and the Padres’ have the swinging friar logo over a white shamrock. Judging by the sweat lines on Will Ohman’s cap, they are not made out of the “wicking” material.

Bush league, New Era, bush league.[/quote]

Amen. You know … logo creep doesn’t bother me as much as it does some people. But for some reason, I really cannot stand to see the New Era logo on the side of their hats, and they slap it on everything that isn’t an authentic-collection 5950. That’s what bothers me most about the green hats.

Allison|
March 17, 2007 at 8:47 pm |

Michigan State vs North Carolina…is there a Spartan wearing sunglasses?? Sorry no pic but I was getting a quick score check between wrestling matches and saw a quick shot of someone with what looked like tinted glasses giving a high-five on the court.

Not sure how many people have gotten a really good look at those new jerseys that Nike has Florida and OSU wearing, but Eastbay has the detailed shots that show some things I hadn’t noticed or actually seen earlier. First off, the Florida jersey has a scaled pattern on it and I have to say, it’s fairly interesting. Just thought a few of you might want to get a better look at it, computer generated or not.

Secondly, I found it interesting that OSU is sporting the LBJ23 emblem instead of the normal swoosh or Jumpman logos. According to the SI article from a few weeks ago, they did this because it is where LeBron would’ve gone had he gone to college. The Jordan brand is used for UNC, but also with Cincy and Georgetown among other things. Does this mean we’ll soon be seeing the LBJ23 brand branching out in the same fashion?

They’re both pretty insignificant and have been mentioned before probably, but things like this catch my interest.

Maybe it’s not such good luck to wear green on the day before St. Patrick’s Day.

I thought it looked pretty bad.

Appreciate the coverage of the Iowa Boy’s State Basketball Tournament![/quote]I really hope the teal-like green is just because of the picture, because that’s horrid.

Sorry for the double up.

Bryan|
March 17, 2007 at 9:21 pm |

[quote comment=”61109″]Michigan State vs North Carolina…is there a Spartan wearing sunglasses?? Sorry no pic but I was getting a quick score check between wrestling matches and saw a quick shot of someone with what looked like tinted glasses giving a high-five on the court.[/quote]
That would be Maurice Joseph. I don’t know why he’s wearing them, though.

Chip|
March 17, 2007 at 10:11 pm |

[quote comment=”61102″]Riding the El today in downtown Chicago for the Parade and found someone wearing this little diddy. Didn’t take a picture at that moment, but add 150 more pounds, a cup of beer and a floppy leprachaun hat and you’ll get the picture.

OHL fans reside in Chicago. NICE JERSEY![/quote]

Did anyone else notice that the jersey clearly has an RBK logo on the left shoulder, but the description to the left says “made in Canada by Team Nike”?

Allison|
March 17, 2007 at 10:37 pm |

[quote comment=”61113″][quote comment=”61109″]Michigan State vs North Carolina…is there a Spartan wearing sunglasses?? Sorry no pic but I was getting a quick score check between wrestling matches and saw a quick shot of someone with what looked like tinted glasses giving a high-five on the court.[/quote]
That would be Maurice Joseph. I don’t know why he’s wearing them, though.[/quote]

From the web page: “After working with Deskey, a retail product branding consultancy for 18 months, Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank has released its new identity. Unfortunately, they traded in a readable, recognizable mark for a trendy, often parodied swoosh/horizon/.com logo (see before and after marks above).”

Ah yes, I grew up in Cincinnati with 5/3. Bench used to do all their spots. But what’s with the blue/green?

=bg=|
March 17, 2007 at 10:56 pm |

So for many years..oh, I’d say 1984 to about 2001, I wore nothing but Nike. Played a lot of tennis, and their shoes fit great. And for several years, I got all the free pairs I could handle. But around 01, I switched to Adidas. Well, my Adidas are worn out..and I CANNOT find a pair to fit right. I have normal feet..nothing strange. SO my wife suggested, “Try Nike again..didn’t they always fit great?” So we went to Kohl’s and I got two pair that felt like they were made for me.

I say all this because..HONEST..the first thing I thought when I once again swooshed myself was…”What would Lukas think?”

I need more of a life.

Allison|
March 17, 2007 at 11:07 pm |

I’m just waiting for the day when someone’s pant leg gets caught on a cleat and they faceplant.

schuby|
March 17, 2007 at 11:08 pm |

Article about Ryan Francis and the patch USC basketball wears to commemorate his death.

[quote comment=”61119″]I’m just waiting for the day when someone’s pant leg gets caught on a cleat and they faceplant.[/quote]

Allison, the links work fine for me. I will laugh hysterically the day this happens—and it will.

Paul, I was watching the MN Girls’ High School Basketball Tournament (interspersed with March Madness, of course), and I saw a guy wearing a Mets’ t-shirt. Orange, with a script Mets. As neither team is nicknamed the Mets, I can only assume he is a Mets’ fan, and, yes, I immediately thought of how you would be so happy there was nary a speck of black in sight.

Hm. I, too, must stop reading this blog so much.

Minna H.|
March 17, 2007 at 11:29 pm |

Of course, the guy wearing the Mets’ shirt was in the stands and not in the game. Just thought I would clarify.

Jeff B|
March 17, 2007 at 11:59 pm |

[quote comment=”61099″]Nike World meets Fifth Third Bank!

From the web page: “After working with Deskey, a retail product branding consultancy for 18 months, Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank has released its new identity. Unfortunately, they traded in a readable, recognizable mark for a trendy, often parodied swoosh/horizon/.com logo (see before and after marks above).”

From the comments “As an older American, we hate to see lighter colors and smaller letters. We canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t read them! Do you or do you not want our business?”

OK thats the thing. For company logos, you can kinda get away with something like that, but that’s why I always support uniforms with simple contrasting color schemes, simple patterns, and big block lettering. Let me see what team you are or what number you are or what your name is when you’re running/jumping/whatever.

Hal|
March 18, 2007 at 12:27 am |

How many of you saw UCLA vs. Indiana? What a pleasure to watch two teams wearing uniforms that represent the great traditions of their schools, instead of being whores for Nike!

DRob|
March 18, 2007 at 1:32 am |

Instead they’re whores to adidas.
Just only half joking though, i think the ucla and Indiana jerseys are top-notch, it just annoys me when people focus on swooshification and nike (which i hate as much as anyone) and give adidas (and reebok, which is owned by adidas) a free pass.

The padres swinging friar hat on green yesterday looked horrible on tv. It looked like a blob. What is that classified as? Alternate? It’s not on the New Era site?

They were this during the season don’t they?

Esoteric Eric|
March 18, 2007 at 10:46 am |

[quote comment=”61073″]Anybody else notice that Seattle seems to ghave dumped their classic navy-with-aqua-bill home cap and has only the all-navy one now? Liked the discontinued one myself.[/quote]
The Mariners actually stopped using their “Northwest green”-billed home caps after the 2005 season. The team stores’ stock of “Authentic” 5950 home caps were sold off to the region’s big drug store chain, who in turn sold them off for $5.99 each. While I was happy to get the bargain, I’d have been happier if the M’s kept the color; now their home uni is almost indistinguishable from the Tigers’ or the Yankees’ unis. (Actually, I was a big fan of the ’95 – ’96 alt cap (green w/ navy bill) and green alt jersey (still the most expensive shirt in my entire wardrobe); dang Griffey, Jr. and his vest fetish!) ((8=D))

acc (the brain)|
March 18, 2007 at 4:48 pm |

[quote comment=”61128″]How many of you saw UCLA vs. Indiana? What a pleasure to watch two teams wearing uniforms that represent the great traditions of their schools, instead of being whores for Nike![/quote]

That was by far the worst game of the day – it negated the traditional uniform appeal.

Butler vs. Maryland had good unis
as did Texas A&M.

Erin|
March 18, 2007 at 6:33 pm |

Iowa…the land I call my home. Sadly, Bishop Heelan lost Saturday night-by kind of a lot. But there’s nothing wrong with second place when you have a rockin’ jersey.

Milk Run|
March 19, 2007 at 1:46 am |

This is pretty ironic since pride is a sin.
— Milk-Run

[quote comment=”61018″]Paul–Bishop Heelan is a Catholic school in the Sioux City district. I lived in the area until I was 13, and ALL of their sports wear “PRIDE” on the back of their uniforms.

They believe in the “Play for the name on the front of your jersey, not the one on the back” philosophy, and also play for pride. I think their official nickname is the Crusaders, but they’re usually known as the Pride.[/quote]

Tim|
March 19, 2007 at 2:07 am |

[quote comment=”61251″]The padres swinging friar hat on green yesterday looked horrible on tv. It looked like a blob. What is that classified as? Alternate? It’s not on the New Era site?

They were this during the season don’t they?[/quote]

The only time the swinging friar appears on a regular season Padres hat or jersey is when they wear the blue alternate tops. The swinging friar is on the left sleeve of that jersey. The swinging friar on the hat is a St. Patricks Day only occurance.

Aside from the green hat that they wear one time a season on their designated “Military Opening Day” the Padres really only have two game hats, home and road.